Geneva, April 24, 2021: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (the EPFL), Orange and SAP have released the 12 finalists of the Growth Stage Impact Ventures (GSIV) for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiative, which aims at identifying and showcasing midcap impact ventures in developing countries with the catalytic potential to drive both large impact and yield sustainable profit. Three of the finalists are from India.
As the second cohort of the initiative, the selected finalists represent the most innovative and investment-ready ventures that are transforming access to health, energy, and waste management in developing countries. A highly competitive selection, the process starts with nominations from impact investors and UN agencies. Finalists represent the best 5% of the 240 recommended enterprises that met the criteria across the world.
All ventures will participate in a virtual pitching event on June 3rd, 2021, then attend the SDG Finance Geneva Summit, during the Building Bridges Week in late November 2021.
Here are the 12 finalists: 
Energy 
Iluméxico (Mexico), Kingo (Guatemala), Easy Solar (Sierra Leone), Powerstove (Nigeria)
Waste Management
GARV toilets (India), Sinba (Peru), ColdHubs (Nigeria), Saathi (India)
Health
Livox (Brazil), Bempu Health (India), Vula Mobile (South Africa), Mamotest (Argentina)
The 2020 Call for Nominations only accepted impact ventures having raised at least USD 500 K, providing products and services for low-income people which reduce inequalities (with particular attention to gender inequalities) through better access to quality health, affordable and clean energy, and by reducing and recovering waste. Only ventures nominated by third parties (accelerators, impact funds, family offices, international organizations, etc.) and with headquarters, primary workforce, and service provision or product market in developing countries were eligible for the selection. 
Out of the 12 finalists, 7 have over 50 % of women in C-suite positions and all but one employ between 11 and 100 people (25% have more than 100 employees). One of the finalists is from Least Developed Countries.
The GSIV selection takes place within the framework of the UNDP SDG Finance Geneva Summit. The broader objective of the summit is to promote SDG-aligned investments, showcasing emerging market examples of businesses that do well by doing good. By bringing together the unique ecosystem of development professionals, investors, development finance institutions, academia, and entrepreneurs, UNDP aims to catalyze a shift of capital from mainstream finance to impact investing with a focus on addressing the SDGs.